


The Years of Smoke and Embers

by atlaskat



Series: Flesh and Blood and Fire [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 100 Year War (Avatar TV), Air Nomad Genocide (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bending (Avatar), Earth Kingdom (Avatar), Fake History, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, Gen, Military History, Pre-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Sozin's Comet, War, completely ignores legend of korra, inspired by Asian (mostly Chinese + Japanese) and European history, pre/during
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2020-04-06 03:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19054399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlaskat/pseuds/atlaskat
Summary: Fire Lord Sozin used a comet's power to exterminate the Air Nomads, but the young Fire Nation's power slipped through his fingers as the comet passed. With his father exiled and Fire Nation territories under Earth Kingdom rule, Sozin's son, young prince Azulon grows up with his father's ideals of conquest -- consumed by the desire for revenge.Two decades later a volcanic eruption uncovers great metal deposits in the Fire Nation mountains, which in turn leads to the welding of metal weaponry. Under Fire Lord Azulon's rule, a second attack and subsequent war transpire.This is a narrative look at the history of the four nations during Avatar Aang's disappearance, a history which sees emperors rise and crumble. These were the years of smoke and embers.





	1. Creation of the Fire Nation

To the far west of the mighty Earth Kingdom lay a formation of islands, not bigger than a third of the great Kingdom, which was mostly populated by savages good at spitting out fire and slaughtering men, but not much else. These people were often times the source of the Avatar's problems, as they would not stop fighting and murdering each other and upsetting the spirits.

Supposedly they had learned their abilities from the great dragons, but if so, they seemed to have forgotten the nobility and grace of their teachers.

That was until a man by the name of Féng Shinzo pulled lightning out of the sky to show the people they were to listen to him. Féng had noticed that the fire people's loss of nobility came from hunger, and although their land was made of fertile volcanic soil, not much would grow in the harsh sun and dry earth.

Beyond his city lay a freshwater lake, however it was inaccessible as it was caged in by a mountain. Féng was however not discouraged and commanded the people to dig into its side. The firebenders melted the rock, and those without bending dug with their hands or with wooden instruments. 

Many years passed, but the fire people succeeded in tearing right through the mountain, and reached the lake. With fresh water, they built rice fields which became rich with crop, and their women bore many healthy children. 

They collected all the gold they could find -- jewelry, ornaments, pieces from mountain rivers -- and welded a five-pointed crown shaped like a flame, which they placed in Féng's _chonmage._ His title became "Lord of Fire", as he had torn lightning from its place with the gods and united the nation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Chonmage is a sort of ponytail, a traditional Japanese topknot often associated with the samurai.


	2. The Trial of Fire Lord Sozin

Monk Gyatso had seen fire benders before, once up close, once from far away. Just like this time, he had seen them as dark silhouettes against the setting sun. Only now it wasn't the sun; it was a burning mountain in the sky; the comet. It had been a century since it last passed by, and in those times, fire benders were not soldiers in armies.

Gyatso thought that fire bending was something which could be seen through the eyes. If it was the color, or the specific look, he didn't know. When he had seen a fire bender's eyes up close, they had been calm, but still a burning from within could be seen through them.

There was passion in the eyes of these benders, too, but here it was different. These eyes spoke of death.

 _______________________________________________  


The Earth King, fifty-first of his name, held his hands in a knot at the small of his back. He looked into the painted-stone expression of the Kyoshi statue before him. The place was instilled with a sort of solemn peace, the power of the Avatar still echoed between the walls. The fresh fruit and flowers which hung from the statue's hands filled the air with their sweet aroma. Slender threads of smoke spiraled upward from the incense at her feet.

There had been many Fire Nation soldiers, insane with the power they were given by the comet -- just as earth benders could go insane with the power of earthquakes. But those powers were temporary, and while hundreds of bloodthirsty young men were certainly terrifyingly dangerous, relying on brute force and borrowed power was not. Strength and stamina run out; strategy does not.

While the Earth Kingdom could not intervene with the comet still in the sky -- a single fire bender could produce more flames than a forest fire -- they had quite quickly taken control afterwards. 

"Perhaps it was cowardly, waiting like that", the Earth King said, "but surely it was better than burning every Earth Kingdom soldier to death and letting the Fire Lord take the remains."

Kyoshi did not answer.

The Earth King was not, of course, looking with a forgiving eye on the fact that the Air Nomads were just about wiped from the face of the earth. It had been kept closely secret that Avatar Roku of the Fire Nation had died in a volcanic eruption, but after defeating Fire Lord Sozin, the reason for the genocidal attack was admitted.

Avatar Roku had died, and now the next Avatar was most likely dead as well. The Air Nomads probably discovered the Avatar's identity; but this secret died with them. And now it would once again take years to locate the next one in the cycle.

Which was the next element? The Earth King's memory was wearing thin now, with his age.

Right. Water.

"Honored Kyoshi", he uttered, "if it is true that you can speak with all your incarnations, please inform the current Avatar of the danger they are in."

He then turned on his heels and walked into the corridors of the palace. A councilmeeting was to be held that evening, where the fate of Fire Lord Sozin would be decided.

Many stood firm on the opinion of execution. Execute him, execute the Fire Lady, kill the unborn child. It should be done publicly as a preventative measure, to scare away any more uprising tendencies in the fire benders.

The Earth King was not of those opinions. Certainly the Air Nomads would not have been either. Just as an earth bender had to stay grounded to bend, so had a ruler. While fear was effective, for a while, it also brewed hatred. And hatred would grow uncontrollable with time.

Taking an eye for an eye would make the world blind. 

_______________________________________________

  

Fire Lord Sozin was sentenced to life in exile, on a small island in the Chameleon Bay, close to Ba Sing Se and very far away from the Fire Nation. The pregnant Fire Lady was spared, and Dai Li forces were implemented as temporary rulers.


	3. Calculations of the Dai Li

The fire prince was given the name Azulon. At merely fifteen years old, he already stood tall, with hair dark as coal and eyes wild with fire. He did not worry the Dai Li. If he became troublesome, they would deal with him, just as they had with his mother.

Being in the prince's presence was always a challenge -- the strength of his youth shone through every gaze, every patch of skin, and his spirit was so unbearably determined, even as a child destiny seemed to have chosen him. His existence alone demanded respect.

With the years, Azulon became less defiant; he wore Earth Kingdom garments, followed their laws, agreed to the tax system. A percentage of every good was to be paid to the Earth Kingdom -- a form of reparations, and a way to control the Fire Nation's economy and military.

And so the Earth King decided to let him be crowned Fire Lord by his people. As soon as Azulon held the official title of ruler, he began assuring the people that he would not allow the Dai Li to oppress them further.

This still did not worry the Dai Li. Whatever tradition said, they still held the real power over the Fire Nation. But the people knew this, too. And they were not happy.

The Dai Li, far away from the central control in Ba Sing Se, began taking freedoms they shouldn't have. It was easy, too, with the King's mind returning to childhood. He no longer remembered his family, nor was he capable of running the Dai Li. But his word was still law, and as he despised unruly behavior, he began calling back the Dai Li forces from the Fire Nation for re-training.

And Azulon did not hesitate when his chance presented itself. He built cities, repaired bridges, increased agriculture and began widespread construction of fire bending schools. It was all for the cultural significance, he told the Earth King.

His people adored him. His speeches drew enormous crowds, he created work, the young Fire Lord tended to his nation's wounds.

The Dai Li were not happy. But the Earth King's words were still law, and as long as he hadn't completely lost his mind, there wasn't anything for them to do.


	4. Aì Luò Mountain

Azulon stepped out of the carrier onto the giant dunes around. A pillar of thick smoke polluted the air, the heat of the volcano was like a wall. It had been twenty-two years since his birth, and he was perhaps at the height of his valor: he was beautiful, but vanity did not suit a great leader. He should focus more on power, more on the strength in his breath and sword at his hip.

Beauty did hold its own power, but many such people possessed a smug sort of self-confidence which only appealing people could. Conceit brought down empires, Azulon knew.

Poets, though, would praise him endlessly, say he took after his mother's elegant allure. There was already a long line of suitresses, a mountain of letters on the finest of rice paper, words in the blackest ink, waiting to be answered. 

The emperor closed his eyes, let the sensations of the place wash over him. The powerful smell of the melting earth; the hot wind which rustled the silk of his garments in the places not covered by leather armor; the call of the mountain. Volcanoes contained only a fraction of the power of the comet, but already this much gave a noticeable boost.

"His highness, the Fire Lord!" a voice called. It belonged to a villager. Azulon opened his eyes and laid them on two men, one of them holding a large, dark object.

"Show me," he said calmly.

The object was neither earth nor wood -- it had a sharp smell, like freshly slaughtered livestock. _Iron_ , Azulon thought, _in an unprecedented quantity._

"The volcano is spitting it out by the hour," said another villager, "it's melted when it comes out... melting it with fire bending is also possible."

Azulon nodded quietly. If there was one thing the Fire Nation had in abundance, it was heat.

"Evacuate the village. And then I want mining efforts to begin immediately in mountains of roughly this size," he called his orders as he looked at the Aì Luò mountain. If it had been a person, Azulon would have kissed their hands and demanded songs be written in their honor.

Armor of metal would certainly be heavy, but no element would pierce it. And that was nothing against the potential of metal weaponry.  
  


_______________________________________________

 

Umi looked over into the horizon. Her hands were exposed, but she didn't mind the cold yet. The sun was setting, painting the sky with its golden blood, and she asked it silently to return again in the morning. She dreaded the day in which the light period ended.

The other tribesmen were lighting the fires of their driftwood lanterns, readying themselves for night.

"Hey, go light our fire too," Umi told her younger brother. The child looked unsure.

"Father said not to talk to you," he answered. He was the only male in the whole tribe who had talked to her in over a week.

Umi was fourteen, and had begun bleeding last dark period. Ten days ago she had snuck into a spiritual meeting out of curiosity. It meant the greatest misfortune if a woman who had started bleeding saw the men's spiritual rituals, but because she was young and ripe for marriage and childbirth she had not been severely punished.

It hurt her greatly though, being cut off by the men. Especially her father. She knew the spirits and their rules were very important, but she didn't understand how a man so understanding and gentle as her father would submit to these rules.

Thankfully she was so unskilled in water bending she was practically a non-bender. Her punishment would have been much greater if she also defied the order of the spirits in that regard -- the Northern Water Tribe shamans viewed female benders as thieves, their spirits were too strong for women, and thusly stole the spiritual abilities to which men were entitled. Female benders were the cause of male non-benders. Avatar Karuk had been male, and the water bending Avatar before that had been forgotten, so they were probably female, Umi thought bitterly.

She couldn't help but wonder what the opinion of their sister tribe in the south was on the matter.

Umi reached her hand up, as if grabbing for the sun itself, its rays shining through the gaps of her fingers. As she imagined what it would feel like -- perhaps fluttering, like the heart of a bird -- Umi spotted a black dot just where the sea and sky became one. It quickly became larger, and she was able to make out a black, fuzzy line of smoke from it. The sight scared her, and she rushed back towards the village in her thick seal skin parka.

The men gave her dirty looks, but ignoring them, she dove into her family's ice hut to warn her father.

"Father," she said breathlessly, "something burning is coming this way."

Her father looked at her, suspiciously, which broke Umi's heart, but the man seemed to decide his daughter was still trustworthy. In any case, it would only be a small defeat if it really was nothing.

As Umi exited with her father there were shouts from other villagers. 

"Look at that!"

"What is it? A burning iceberg? A ship?"

"How is it floating so fast?"

Some, Umi saw, were readying their canoes to sail and meet the ship. If it was truly burning, its sailors might need help.

There was a feeling of unease in the pit of Umi's stomach. She looked to her father, who had a similar, strained expression. Something was off.

As the ship got closer, it became evident that the fire was controlled; no flames were visible. The monstrosity was made of a dark material, unlike anything the water tribe had seen before. The ship docked in the ice harbor, which was partially destroyed, since it only accomodated canoes. On its side there was an image; a five-pointed flame.

Umi recognized the symbol.

"Fire Nation!" her father exclaimed, and after a moment of dead silence, the village erupted in panic.

A long staircase was hurled down from the ship, and tall men clad in dark armor with broad, pointed shoulders cascaded from it. Their faces were hidden behind bone-white masks, but their intentions were easily readable -- their swords drawn, fire dotting their palms.

" _Run!_ " she heard her father howl, and Umi did, but she began too late. One of the soldiers took off right after her, narrowing in with each step over the solid, white ice.

He caught her by her long hair. She screamed as he dragged her backwards, from pain or fear, she didn't know.

"Are you a water bender?" he asked, but it wasn't a question. Her answer was something which could be _taken_ out of her throat. Just like fire; it _took_ , consumed, mercilessly. Any bending ability which might have saved her had been carefully weeded out.

"No," she sobbed.

The soldier made a noise of frustration at the back of the throat. "Don't lie."

   
_______________________________________________

 

Soaked in rain, Azulon stubbornly refused to move. As any fire bender should, he'd spent countless hours practicing proper breath control, and in there -- in the palace -- with his wife's screams filling the space, the smell of her blood, it had been impossible to breathe.

Many women died in childbirth, he knew. But his Ilah was young, a proficient fire bender, she was so strong. Azulon found himself reciting prayer -- to the old gods of the Fire Nation or to the Buddha, he didn't know.

Her strength was what had drawn him to her. The first time he'd seen her, a daughter of a powerful Fire Nation family, was in the garden of the great pagoda; one built in Fire Lord Sozin's honor.

Ilah had been standing on the rounded bridge, watching red koi fish in the water, a rice paper parasol over her slender shoulder to protect her from the blazing sun. The silk kimono she wore had the most exquisite pattern by a most skilled silk painter; cranes, flying over red-stained earth, green mountains up ahead. Azulon thought it fit to commission an artist to carve a perfect ukiyo-e print of the scene.

He must've made a noise, because she'd turned around, startled. The hair at the sides of her face was cut short, to her cheekbones, but the rest was a black waterfall down her arms to her waist. Her eyes were pools of amber water, sparkling with the light of recognition.

"Fire Lord Azulon!" she'd exclaimed, lowering her gaze and dipping her head deep in a bow.

"Rise," he'd said, "so I can look at you."

And now her beautiful face was contorting in pain, while he was out there, freezing as the raindrops traveled down his body. Silk became quite heavy with water, he realized.

Azulon didn't like being consumed by fear. He much sooner preferred anger, so he thought of politics. Raids to the northern and southern Water Tribes begun weeks ago, and so far, they'd acquired a few dozen water benders.

Men were the easiest to spot, as they were allowed to bend. Female benders were more difficult. Since childhood, their abilities were repressed, simply on the basis of being female -- Azulon thought it ridiculous; losing half the fighting potential because of pointless beliefs started by men insecure of their own abilities. Or maybe jealous men.

Women should be the jealous ones, Azulon thought. Men were to be assertive and grow self-confident as they trained and bettered themselves.

There weren't many women in the Fire Nation armies -- they hadn't the same affinity for training or fighting or bloodshed. And it wouldn't be very strategic; many men were motivated through their women, to return to their wives after winning a battle was a great honor. Sometimes warriors were rewarded with a woman. If those women died in battle, then motivation became a bigger issue.

There was an even more important role for women, however. Besides marriage and childbirth, women would work while men were gone. Fire Nation armor and weapons were more often than not crafted by women.

"Fire Lord," a servant's voice called him back from his thoughts. Wordlessly, he turned on his heels, walked with long, noble strides through the palace.

The Fire Lord braced himself for the worst. If Ilah had died he'd issue a black week of grieving, stop any and all attacks; no other opinion would matter to him.

His eyes were flat with the struggle to imagine a future without her as he turned the last corner -- and there she was, alive, on the other side of the room. Azulon rushed to her side, almost missing to register the bundle in her arms. 

As she smiled exhaustedly up at him he bent down and kissed her damp forehead with his cold lips. It was a moment of tenderness rarely seen between the Fire Lords and their wives: arranged marriages were often loveless, but this time, the Fire Lord had been able to choose his wife.

"It's a boy," said Ilah. Her voice was tired, raw around the edges, but her expression soft and kind.

It was tradition to name the first child in the parents' honor, but Azulon didn't want to give this boy his own name. Anyone could name his child after himself. There was something much more important in their time. 

He would honor the Aì Luò mountain, for its gifts, through his son.

"Iroh," called Azulon, "his name shall be Iroh."


	5. Miscalculations of the Fire Lord

Twenty-nine after the Air Nomad genocide, Azulon received report that the last known water benders had been captured. This didn't mean the end of the southern and northern raiders, but it did mean less frequent attacks. Some Fire Nation soldiers were to travel and monitor the tribes still, taking any potential water bending children.

The winter of year thirty was very harsh, and many citizens of Ba Sing Se fell ill or died of famine. The Fire Nation kept warm -- all through the deadly cold they welded metal, built more armor suits and bigger ships.

More funding was spent on scholarly education, which in turn produced more engineers and architects. Travel would be much faster, one of them thought, if the armies could travel by flight. A young engineer, Isao, looked at the traditional paper lanterns which were lit during the midwinter festival, and the dots of light in the sky gave her an idea. 

It was already known that hot air rose, and cold air sank, but not to what extent. So she spent a few days sewing a balloon of light fabric, with only a tiny opening, where she placed a small woven-grass basket with a candle.

As long as the flame was big enough, the balloon rose, even as other objects were placed in the basket. So the engineer designed a ship after this principle. As long as a strong fire bender was on board, there wouldn't even be need for fuel to burn.

The Fire Lord personally awarded her with the position of royal engineer.

Thirty-two years after the genocide, Fire Lady Ilah became pregnant once more, and Azulon began planning his invasion of the Earth Kingdom.

An enormous map of the four nations hung on a wall in one of the palace halls -- it was torn down and placed on a big table, at which Azulon sat with his most trusted advisors. A path from the south was possible; the immense Si Wong desert could be as much of a challenge as a protecting barrier. But that route would be a gamble, as it would be impossible to acquire supplies in the form of food and water. If the soldiers made it through the desert, they then had to pierce the Ba Sing Se walls somehow -- and it was not certain that the city would fall in the very first attack.

No, the northern path seemed much more agreeable. While the south was poor, and easier to overtake, the north was lush and full of food. Not to mention the possibility of starving out the people of Ba Sing Se: taking the north meant seizing control of the Earth Kingdom's lifeblood, the crops and the silk worm farms.

The Fire Lord's advisors noticed a change in their emperor as his thirst for the Earth Kingdom grew by the day. He ordered the soldiers to train harder and the people to mine for more metal. Agni kais became a form of entertainment for him, and he didn't mind even when they became more and more violent -- the old rules said the victor and loser were determined by the first burn wound, but now, Azulon let the fights continue until one of the fighters fainted; many of them later died from burns or subsequent infections.

As Ilah's second pregnancy commenced, she grew thinner, paler, the fire of her spirit turning to smoke. Fire sages came to the palace, felt her chakra pools, and determined the baby was consuming too much energy from inside her sea of chi. 

Ilah became sick often, and as she coughed, glowing embers rose from her throat. Her fire bending retreated deep into her body, and she could no longer muster it.

It pained Azulon like nothing else to see his beloved wife in such a state. The cold was the worst part -- her skin stopped feeling like that of a fire bender; as though the claws of winter were buried deep in her flesh. Long strands of the beautiful hair which crowned Ilah's head fell out, piled in the bed which she rarely left.

The Fire Nation soldiers began their journey to the northeast, and Azulon joined them, leading some of the battles, succeeding in taking most of the villages, as well as a few rich cities. The months went on, most of the Earth Kingdom's far north produce going to the Fire Nation, and yet Ba Sing Se did not fall. 

The elderly Earth King died, and it caused great turmoil, but still Ba Sing Se did not fall. 

Prince Kuei, the only remaining child of the previous monarch, was crowned fifty-second Earth King at the age of two and a half years. In his stead, the Dai Li installed themselves as a temporary guardian regency and began their counterattack against the Fire Nation.

The fifty-first Earth King had led wide armies of Earth Kingdom soldiers against the Fire Nation, but by this point the Dai Li were far too shattered; they lacked direction, but not power, and thus the state of the institution worsened.

There were rumors of mind control, torture, in the chambers underneath lake Laogai. Political turbulence and uncertainty shook the population, but Ba Sing Se still did not fall.

The Fire Lord became frustrated, and with frustration came anger, which resulted in crueler methods and more bloodshed. The Fire Nation received the reputation of men who would quench their burning swords in pools of blood; men who would try the performance of their new swords by slashing the throats of civilians.

A commander under Azulon responded to the reputation by cutting the throat of every single war prisoner in his possession. The Fire Lord did not reprimand this crime, and the commander faced little to no consequence.

 

_______________________________________________

 

After a handful months, Azulon travelled back to the Fire Nation, awaiting the birth of his second child. Prince Iroh was almost four years old, and didn't immediately recognizee his father upon his arrival. This made Azulon unsure of himself, and it pained him greatly. As he could nearly not bear to see the state in which Ilah was in -- her bony, ghost-white face seemed to belong to a corpse -- the Fire Lord spent time with his son, drinking strong tea, playing Go, and fire bending. 

Azulon drank teas infused with seeds from the opium poppy as he watched his wife waste away. The night her contractions began, he could read in her face that she would die, and this time he stayed bitterly by her side even as he struggled for air. Her screams had been much better, he realized, because they were a sure sign that she was still alive.

Ilah died just before dawn, and Azulon barely looked at the child which had to be cut out of his wife's stomach. It was once again a boy, one who was perfectly able to scream his lungs raw.

"A child who kills his own mother," Azulon heard the fire sages mumble, "is certainly chosen by destiny for _something._ "

He let the sages name the child Ozai.

At the end of year thirty-three, Ba Sing Se had still not fallen, and another bitter winter stood at the door. Azulon ordered a month of grieving for the Fire Lady, and refused his advisors' advice to remarry. As fire benders didn't handle cold well, the troops in the Earth Kingdom were told to cease fire, and instead establish the territories which had already been taken as Fire Nation colonies.

During the following months several ukiyo-e prints were commissioned, however all but one were burned by the emperor's own fire. The spared print was of a lady with a parasol on a rounded bridge, overlooking a garden pond.


	6. A Father's Disdain

As the two princes grew, Azulon continued building up the nation: better roads, bigger temples, greater airships. While he'd stopped caring much for religion himself, the value of belief was still clear to him -- a population which associated its ruler with its deities would be a loyal population.

There were seldom any attacks by the Fire Nation -- here and there were raids of the poles, and any uprisings in the colonies were easily subdued. Otherwise the armies were still, silent.

Azulon spent long hours on politics; he traveled, erected statues, spoke with his people. But after the death of Fire Lady Ilah he wasn't the same. He no longer cared for most diplomacy, nor was he as diligent and hard-working. Instead, the emperor indulged in sake, and spent his nights down in the _geisha_ quarters of the royal city.

He admired both stages of the performers: the young _maiko_ were more timid and they were worse, charmingly so, at hiding their excitement and pride of their talents than the _geisha._

The women were entertainers, not prostitutes -- at most they would give a glimpse of their wrists or a slight touch. Azulon wasn't after sex, rather he was after the company; he ached for the tender care only women could supply him with.

While the Fire Lord was off experiencing the arts of the _geisha_ , his sons grew older. While Azulon's visits were quite few, he was always happy to spend time with the eldest prince; Iroh was a gentle, quick-thinking and agile boy -- he loved playing Go, which he became brilliant at. He practiced with the fire sages to perform better each time he challenged his father. The prince also adored reading, practically collecting books and scrolls of the different bending techniques. When Azulon visited, he often watched Iroh's bending practices, and was more amazed each time. The boy implemented other bending styles into his own, using each one to his benefit. Against a quick or offensive opponent he would use steady movements, keeping his body close to the ground, mimicking the defensive and solid earth bending. Against stronger opponents with larger fire power Iroh would use the beautiful, brush stroke-like gliding of water bending. Against large, grounded opponents, the prince danced around like a leaf, using his own fire to propel himself into the flying motions of air bending.

Azulon would praise him, counting his son's victories in training sessions until they became too many to count. He would reward Iroh with gifts; books, feasts, beautiful swords and small airships. But most importantly, and most precious to the prince, Azulon would reward Iroh with his time and attention.

Ozai received far less of their father's affections. Azulon could barely bring himself to look at the child, tensing up each time the boy was in his presence. Already from a young age Ozai was a problematic child; he used rasher and rasher tricks to gain the attention of others around him -- he started tormenting turtleducks in the garden ponds, shooting small fire balls at the animals, chuckling as they fled wildly.

The young prince began tormenting people as well; already at five years old he'd discovered that female servants were easiest to harass, which he then began doing often. He would hide to scare them, spill tea in their laps, singe their hair, even hit them at times. To him, there was enjoyment to be found in their whimpers, the way fear or even anger would flash in their faces, but how they had to hold back as they would be tortured for striking the prince in reprimand.

Ozai's temper and actions would worsen each time Azulon visited. At first, the young prince tried to mimic his brother's fighting, but copying other bending styles was difficult and felt pointless to him. There wasn't any good reason to learn them; fire bending was superior, and he had no interest in the other cultures. Instead he found his own style -- it was a violent, grandiose show of power, which only became more aggressive as Ozai's pride grew into conceit and his bitterness became resentment.

Still, Ozai craved his father's attention. Sometimes he would be granted small moments of it, always negative -- but that didn't matter to the prince. He developed an affinity for setting fire to things; he liked seeing his own flames, sure, but more than that he especially liked how his father reacted.

The great map of the four nations resulted in a look of extreme disappointment and a scolding, but when it had passed, Ozai felt frustrated at how small it felt. How little time it had taken. The praise Iroh received for even a single training session or match of Go was easily more than double the condemnation Ozai had received. So he found new things to burn -- letters, clothes, sometimes the musical instruments of visiting _geisha_. None of them gave him enough satisfaction.

As the princes watched their father mournfully admire a wooden ukiyo-e print of a woman only Iroh vaguely remembered, an idea was formed in Ozai's mind.

The print was always kept in Azulon's private chamber, but some days, the Fire Lord brought it with him as he read letters or reports, often in the company of fire sages or other officials. On one such occasion, Azulon sat close to the training grounds, half filing the reports and half watching Iroh fire bend.

Ozai's heart beat wildly with excitement as he crept close before grabbing the print and sprinting off with it. He glanced at it -- he had never been allowed this close before -- and found that it fell below his expectations. Supposedly it depicted his mother, but not even her face was visible; it was just a wooden print, and the figure on it could have been any woman in the Fire Nation. What sentimental value could this cheap piece of wood have? Azulon had probably spent more time wistfully gazing at the image than even glaring at his youngest son.

The depth of his disappointment was immeasurable. The prince had only planned to lightly touch the print with his fire, but now, he opened his palm to a much larger flame. Just as he was caught by some servants the print had burned to ash.

No one in the palace had seen such rage in the eyes of the Fire Lord before. His eyes were wild, nearly bulging outward, the veins on his throat visibly pulsating. Ozai's face contorted into a sort of smile, his eyes just as wide, but with excitement. His father's hands were raised -- _strike me_ , Ozai thought, _hurt me, say you despise me!_

Azulon's face twisted as he forcefully closed his eyes, balling his hands into fists, but lowering them. The emperor turned his back on the prince before him and exited the hall in a cold silence, filled to the brim with disgust. It sent a shock wave of fury through the prince. _No, no,_ he howled internally, _scream at me, burn me!_

The young prince couldn't believe the weakness his father possessed, couldn't believe how soft the Fire Lord himself had become.

Vision almost black, Ozai challenged the first fire bender he saw to an Agni Kai -- an old fire sage -- and horrified the onlookers. He abided by the Agni Kai rules implemented by Fire Lord Sozin; the first burn mark had been what crowned the winner and loser before, but Ozai's grandfather was the first to let the matches go on further than that, and the old man was barely alive once Ozai had finished.


	7. Age of the Dragon

Forty-nine years after the air nomad genocide, at the age of twenty-one, Crown Prince Iroh received his first and only son, Prince Lu Ten. To celebrate the birth, Fire Lord Azulon gave the newborn reign over a fire nation colony within the Earth Kingdom, the province of Hong. The beginning of a new era was decreed, celebrating victories in battle, prosperity of the Fire Nation, and the vitality of the royal family. Lu Ten's birth marked year zero for the era of the Great Glowing Dragon, and to accompany this feat Azulon was persuaded to change his title to _Emperor of Fire and Turner of the Golden Wheel_ (火皇和金輪特納), _Huǒ huáng hé jīnlún tè nà._ Azulon denied the proposal when it was first presented by one of the royal ministers as was customary of a humble ruler. Upon the second time, however, Azulon swiftly agreed -- thus further cementing himself as a Buddhist leader, which had become the majority religion in the Fire Nation. Influences from Earth Kingdom trading had led to the popularization, although spirits other than Bodhisattvas were still commonly prayed to.

The high demand for Buddhist sutras, imported from the Earth Kingdom, forced Azulon's hand in streamlining printing and book manufacturing. Massive translation efforts began as well.

Prince Ozai was at the age of seventeen appointed as _Jiangjun_ , army general, which was accepted although the relatively high rank served as a ploy to keep the Prince out of the Fire Lord and Crown Prince's way. As unit commander, Iroh spent most of his time with the strategists and the Fire Lord himself, while Ozai lived in the secondary capitol of Taimatsu. Moving the Prince was a strategic move in the political sense as well, spreading royals out in order to gain sympathy from the population. While in Taimatsu Prince Ozai began endorsing informants, with the help of the police chief Pianzi Ye. The family name, Pianzi, was most likely added postmortem, as it means _cheater_. The police chief used an effective method to make his accused appear guilty before the judicial system; the same tip would be presented from two wildly different, seemingly completely separate sources, which in the eyes of the law meant just about the same as outright being culpable of the charge. A later argument between the two men resulted in Ozai 'uncovering' the scheme, whereby Pianzi was sentenced to death, and the Prince ordered hits on his other family members in order to eradicate the bloodline. Pianzi's real family name was lost, likely on an order of the Prince, who argued that he had been deceived.

In the third year of the era of the Great Glowing Dragon, fifty-two years after the air nomad genocide, a tribe of non-Fire Nation people (which is known from the name 'savages', 野蛮人, _yaban hito_ ) from the plains of the northern Earth Kingdom requested an audience with Azulon. Their leader, a man named Ashina Gao, led a powerful army of earth benders separate from the Earth Kingdom government. Wanting to form an alliance with the most powerful nation, he suggested a daughter of his be married to Prince Lu Ten, and in return Gao's army would join Fire Nation forces. Azulon agreed to the suggestion, and the ten-year-old Princess Enyr was transported to the royal palace.

The fifth year of the era of the Great Glowing Dragon marked Crown Prince Iroh's departure to the Sun Warriors' civilization, where the reported killing of the last dragon earned him the title Dragon of the West. At this time, the informant culture of Taimatsu created by Prince Ozai became a terror threatening national security rather than protecting it. Azulon demanded for his son's return, arranging a marriage between him and Lady Ursa, a young woman of a noble Fire Nation family.


	8. A System of Failure

A light breeze rustled through the lotus flowers of the east royal garden. Crown Prince Iroh dipped his brush in his inkwell, let it glide over the rice paper. A servant immediately ground more, and the smell of fresh ink mixed with the sweet smell of the summer evening. A beautiful servant woman held out a bowl of fruit with a nice glaze finish, and Iroh took one of the zodiac pears, biting into the soft flesh absentmindedly. He watched the light shift and tint the clouds golden.

He needed to finish the work of writing out an official statement, but he much rather spent this time relaxing, watching his little son catch fireflies as the evening turned to dusk. At six years of age, Lu Ten was still small like a four-year-old, and his baby-like features made Iroh want to squeeze him like a little pet. The boy gave a squealing laugh as he caught a bug, his face lighting up with amazement as the fly began glowing in his hand.

Iroh smiled to himself. He lay the brush down, opting to finish the document some other time, and rose from his seat under the red parasol. Unfastening some of the heavy garments, he walked over to his son. Iroh dropped to his knees and stroked Lu Ten's head softly. The boy looked up with his large, round eyes, his gaze a golden amber, like honey.

"Father," he said, opening his palm, revealing the orange light of the bug, "look."

Iroh smiled. "Fireflies are a sign of good fortune," he answered. Lu Ten nodded his little head knowingly, as if that was a fact he'd known his entire life. "Look at this," said Iroh, snapping his fingers to create little sparks and releasing glowing embers from his palms.

Lu Ten gave a large and toothless smile, as the first of his milk teeth had begun loosening, "How do you do it?" He asked excitedly.

Iroh hummed. "You need to imagine a fire inside you," he began, "imagine that you turn the energy of your body into a flame."

Lu Ten furrowed his brows, releasing the bug in order to stare intently at his own palm. His innocent features betrayed a look of extreme concentration which made Iroh have to bite his tongue in order to stop himself from laughing. "It's not working!"

"It takes a lot of practice." Iroh paused, "the sea of chi can be a tricky thing to control, so make sure you practice it a lot."

Lu Ten nodded, although a disappointed wrinkle appeared on his nose. Iroh marveled at how everything his son did could be so adorable, so worthy of love. It made him wonder how any parent could bear to be apart from their child entire years at a time.

"Crown Prince and Dragon of the West," called a voice. Iroh stood up, suddenly needing to present himself as next in line for the throne and not a father with his knees in the dirt. "Your presence is requested." He gestured for the servants to pack up his writing utensils, and gave a quick order to the child carers who bowed their heads, acknowledging the task of looking after the Prince. Then he followed the messenger.

Iroh fastened the rectangular hat required for formal meetings, before stepping out and bowing once before his father. He then sat down in his designated place right beside the imperial throne. At each side of the royals sat historians, brushes and paper ready, already taking account of anything noteworthy.

Another messenger bowed his head to the floor, rose, and repeated the bow three times before addressing the Fire Lord and stating his message. "His excellence Yamamoto Tora." A man with the traditional headgear of a scholar stepped into the throne room. Iroh's eyes trained tiredly on him, the light from the open flames at both sides of the room casting live shadows all around.

"Your grace," began Yamamoto, "I regret to inform you of this highly problematic legal issue."

Azulon inclined with his head for the man to continue. Yamamoto cleared his throat.

"Per the order of Prince Ozai, a historian has been jailed, on invalid grounds. After refusing to stop writing at the Prince's request she was unfairly imprisoned. As his highest majesty would know, historians are exempt from the law when it comes to writing of the actions of the royal family."

The Fire Lord lifted his chin slightly, otherwise his gaze was of the usual somber nature. He remained quiet for a few moments -- allowing the two historians to finish noting what the scholar had said -- before he spoke.

"I hereby announce that the historian shall be released and the dispensation of all historians shall be reinforced through an official decree."  
  


_______________________________  
  


Hours later, after midnight and after pouring over their respective work until each blink felt like grinding sand into their eyes, Azulon put his brush aside and spoke to Iroh.

"I regret to see these developments."

Iroh hummed in agreement.

"In my youth, the Fire Nation was partially ruled by Dai Li forces," said Azulon, a bitter tone in his voice, "they are a highly corrupt police force with massive political influence. The kind which would stain their own reputation by silencing historians. Iroh, do you understand the importance of documenting history?"

"It goes beyond the pride of even the royal family."


End file.
